What's even worse than the endless gridlock are the ressources wasted in inefficient use of time
and more importantly the danger on our streets. That's why we, the Council of Traffic Safety,
dived deep into the latest traffic accidents data of New York City,
to uncover insights, trends, and contributing factors and expose what's really going on out there
Let's work together to identify initiatives and solutions to make NYC traffic safer for everyone.
New York Traffic by the Numbers
Traffic accident data from NYC OpenData from July 2012 to April 2023 lay the foundation for the insights presented on theis website. The dataset is called Motor Vehicle Collisions - Crashes and contains details on police reported motor vehicle collisions in NYC where people has been injured or killed, or if there has been a $1000 worth of damage. The data contains approximately 1.99M rows and 29 attributes. See the linked explainer notebook for descriptions of each attribute in the data.
As of 2022, New York City is the most congested city in the US. Rush hour traffic can cause drivers to spend an average of 236 hours per year on the road, with an additional 117 hours lost to congestion. With such high levels of traffic, it’s no surprise that navigating the city’s busy streets can be dangerous. But, how bad is the safety in New York City, really? Let’s look into some of the facts and figures you need to know!
131,000 crashes per year in 2013-2022
166,600 crashes per year in 2013-2019
86,000 crashes per year in 2020-2022
71,000 expected crashes in 2023
According to recent data, New York City experiences an average of 131,000 crashes per year from 2013 to 2022. However, a closer look at the numbers shows that from 2013 to 2019, the average number of crashes per year was much higher, with an average of 166,600 crashes per year. In contrast, the period post COVID-19 is significantly lower, with an average of 86,000 crashes per year, suggesting that the pandemic has indeed impacted traffic patterns in the city. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that the New York Police Department (NYPD) was already testing a ‘No Report’ crash policy before the pandemic, in which police officers are instructed not to respond to minor car accidents. When the pandemic hit, the NYPD rolled out this policy city-wide to free up police resources for COVID-19-related calls. As a result, the decrease in the number of reported accidents may not necessarily mean that the city is safer or that fewer crashes are occurring. Rather, it could be a consequence of the NYPD prioritizing its resources on other tasks. It is interesting to analyze the types of accidents that occur to determine if there have been any changes in patterns.
2013-2019
178 deathly crashes per year
32,000 injury crashes per year
134,500 material damage crashes per year
Since 2020
183 deathly crashes per year
28,500 injury crashes per year
57,000 material damage crashes per year
The number of material damage crashes has dropped significantly in recent years, from an average of 134,500 material damage crashes per year from 2013 to 2019 to an average of 57,000 material damage crashes per year since 2020. This decrease is likely due to the NYPD’s “No Report” crash policy, which has led to fewer reported accidents overall. However, the average number of fatal crashes is actually increased since the covid-19 outbreak and the number of injury-related crashes has remained relatively consistent with pre-COVID levels, although with a slight decrease. These numbers might indicate that the overall safety of the city may not have improved over the recent years, and may in fact have worsened. However, it’s important to take a closer look at these numbers to gain a more complete understanding of the situation.
In general, the majority of road users killed in collisions in NYC are the pedestrians. The second largest group of fatalities is motorist, and since 2020 there has been an increase in motorists killed , which approaches the level of pedestrians. Looking at the number of fatalities in general over the past decase, we can see that the level of deadly crashes has not improved. In fact, we see a concerning trend of increasing pedestrian fatalities in the most recent years. To combat this trend, we should look into the causes of these crashes and identify ways to prevent them from happening in the future. Let us take a look at the number of crashes in each of the five boroughs of NYC to investigate where we should focus our efforts.
Overall, the trends in both time periods are similar, however there are fewer collisions in the more recent period, as previously noted. Consequently, the median number of collisions per day was consistently higher in the 2013-2019 period across all boroughs. Furter, Brooklyn has the highest number of collisions in both time periods, while the Staten Island has the lowest. Moreover, the number of crashes in Manhattan has decreased and is now more similar to the number of crashes in Bronx, whereas previously it was more similar to Brooklyn and Queens. We will look use these insights to investigate the crashes in each borough in more detail later on. Let’s now take a closer look at the time trends, to see if there are any patterns in the number of crashes over the years, months, and days and hours of the week.
Does Time Matter?
Analyzing crashes in different time perspectives
Maybe rewrite the figure text. Write also something to sum up what we can conclude from the plots…
Where in NYC do Traffic Incidents Occur?
Traffic unsafety by borough
Below map compares how each borough in NYC is affected by traffic incidents overall, which is reflected in different persepectives such as area, population and severity of accidents.
Traffic unsafety by roads
In the following map, we dive into specific trafic locations to identify where the traffic is most dangerous and thus where to prioritize safety enhancing initiatives for the people of NYC.
Click on specific locations for further information on injuries and fatalities at the locations of accidents.
At which locations is the traffic most unsafe in NYC?
Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn
Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn is the most dangerous street in New York City. It has the highest number of accidents, injuries, and fatalities of any street in the city. The street is a major thoroughfare that runs through several neighborhoods, including Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, and Prospect Heights. It is also home to many businesses and residential buildings, making it a popular destination for pedestrians and cyclists. However, the street lacks adequate infrastructure for these users, with narrow sidewalks and bike lanes that are often blocked by parked cars or delivery trucks. This leads to conflicts between different modes of transportation, resulting in collisions and injuries.
An article from 2021, SAFETY THIRD: Hit-and-Run Driver Kills Deaf Man on Notorious Speedway that DOT Failed to Fix, sheds light upon the fact there has been renovation projects on improving the safety of Atlantic Avenue since 2014. The project, which aimed to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists, involved adding high visibility crosswalks and curb extensions, but critics state that it has not fundamentally altered the geometry of the street or provided traffic calming measures. The article argues that despite the renovation, the number of injuries on the roadway has remained high, and the project’s Phase II does not even have funding. Thus, we highly recommend that the city should prioritize the renovation of Atlantic Avenue to improve the safety of the street.
Let’s look into the data and see if the work of the policymakers have made a change in the last 5 years or so…
What Are the Main Causes of Accidents in NYC?
Crashes on NYC streets are caused by various factors, some of which are more obvious than others. It could be a driver’s distraction, fatigue, or even aggressive behavior. Pedestrians who jaywalk or cyclists who ride recklessly can also contribute to crashes.
This section will explore the different factors that contribute to accidents and how they vary depending on the the severity and type of transportation method. We will also look at how these factors have changed over time. That way, we can better understand what causes crashes and how we can prevent them from happening in the future.
Ideas:
- What are the most common factors that contribute to accidents? - OK
- How do these factors vary depending on the severity of the accident? - OK
- How do these factors vary depending on the type of transportation method? - OK
- How have these factors changed over time?
- What can we do to prevent these factors from happening in the future? - OK
Most common contributing factors
The following chart shows the top 8 factors that contribute to accidents in NYC for the three categories.
Recommendation suggestions:
Based on the analysis of the three plots, there are several recommendations that could be made to improve road safety in New York City:
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Address driver inattention and distraction: This is the leading contributing factor to both material damage-only accidents and pedestrian fatalities, and is a common factor in crashes involving injuries to motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. Strategies to address this issue could include increased public education campaigns, stricter enforcement of distracted driving laws, and the development and promotion of new technologies that reduce driver distraction.
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Improve pedestrian safety: Pedestrians are disproportionately affected by crashes leading to injuries and fatalities, and are often the victims of crashes involving failure to yield right of way. To address this issue, policies could focus on improving pedestrian infrastructure, such as adding more crosswalks and pedestrian signals, and redesigning streets to slow down traffic and increase visibility.
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Address speeding: Unsafe speed is the leading contributing factor to fatal crashes, particularly among motorists. Strategies to address this issue could include stricter enforcement of speed limits, the use of automated speed cameras, and roadway design changes such as road narrowing or speed humps.
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Focus on vulnerable road users: Cyclists and pedestrians are particularly vulnerable to injury and death in crashes, and thus policies could be implemented to protect these users. For example, this could include the promotion of protected bike lanes and the implementation of pedestrian-friendly designs such as sidewalks, crosswalks, and traffic calming measures.
Overall, a multi-faceted approach is needed to improve road safety in New York City, involving collaboration between policymakers, law enforcement agencies, transportation professionals, and the general public. By addressing the contributing factors to crashes, particularly those that result in injuries and fatalities, the city can work towards a safer and more sustainable transportation system.
How do these factors relate to each other?
The plot includes the top nine contributing factors, with the size of the circle indicating the number of crashes and the color indicating the number of injuries or deaths.
The plot reveals several important insights. Firstly, crashes involving driver inattention/distraction for both vehicle 1 and vehicle 2 have the highest crash count and are associated with the highest number of injuries and deaths. This highlights the importance of addressing driver inattention and distraction in efforts to make New York City roads safer.
Secondly, the diagonal items of the scatter plots, which indicate when the same contributing factor is listed for both vehicle 1 and vehicle 2, are more frequent and more dangerous in terms of injuries and deaths. This finding suggests that when both drivers are engaging in the same risky behavior, the consequences are more severe.
Additionally, the plot shows that crashes involving unsafe speed and failure to yield right of way, as well as crashes involving unsafe speed and traffic control disregarded, are not highly frequent but are very dangerous. These factors may require additional attention and intervention to prevent crashes from occurring.
Finally, the plot reveals that crashes involving backing unsafely are relatively rare and rarely result in injuries or deaths. This suggests that addressing this contributing factor may not be as high of a priority as others when it comes to improving road safety in New York City.
Overall, this scatter plot provides valuable insights into the correlation between contributing factors in crashes, highlighting the importance of addressing driver inattention and distraction and the need to focus on risky behaviors when both drivers are engaging in them. By taking these insights into account, policymakers and safety advocates can make more informed decisions about how to improve road safety in New York City.
How to Make NYC Great Again
To conclude on the four plots, the policymakers in NYC should focus on addressing the most common contributing factors to crashes and the factors that lead to the most severe crashes.
The leading contributing factor to material damage-only crashes is driver inattention/distraction, which accounted for over 54,000 crashes. This highlights the need for increased awareness and enforcement of distracted driving laws, as well as efforts to educate drivers on the dangers of distractions while driving. Additionally, following too closely is the second most common contributing factor and should be addressed through education and enforcement of safe following distances.
When it comes to crashes that lead to injuries or deaths, policymakers should focus on addressing unsafe speed, driver inattention/distraction, and failure to yield right-of-way. These factors are the top three contributing factors in crashes leading to injuries or deaths. Reducing speed limits and increasing enforcement of speed laws could be effective in reducing crashes caused by unsafe speed, while increasing education and awareness campaigns around distracted driving could help combat driver inattention/distraction.
Finally, policymakers should also address the correlation between the contributing factors in crashes. The analysis of the correlation between contributing factors reveals that diagonal items of the scatter plots are more frequent and also more dangerous, indicating that the combination of certain factors may lead to more severe crashes. Policymakers should take a holistic approach to addressing contributing factors, taking into account the interplay between different factors and how they contribute to crashes.